Takashi was now ten years old.
Life had finally settled into a steady, peaceful rhythm, even though the brutal, bone-crushing training under the Legendary Master remained as ruthless as ever. Takashi had successfully completed several minor missions from the local Supreme Council branch.
The heavy, suffocating walls around his heart were slowly crumbling. He no longer panicked in crowds. He interacted freely with the villagers, and his warm, gentle nature made him deeply beloved by everyone. He earned a good amount of money from his missions, but since his Grandpa provided everything he could ever need, Takashi gave all his earnings away to help the poor villagers.
The people in the village held the Legendary Master in the highest regard, viewing him as a remarkably skilled, veteran warrior. Takashi remained completely blind to his Grandpa's true, god-like identity. To the ten-year-old boy, this old man was simply his Grandpa his entire world, and his only family.
Far away in the East Land, Aira Shizukami had also turned ten.
Her physical appearance was rapidly maturing. The years of intense, suicidal training had fundamentally altered her body. She had achieved flawless mastery over Butsurishiritsu (Physical Enhancement), forging her muscles into living steel. The little girl was transforming into a deadly, imposing young woman.
The new generation Takashi's baby brother Arashi, Aira's brother Kenshi, and Jun's daughter Iyashi were now four years old.
Arashi and Kenshi were absolute terrors. Their innate power levels were terrifyingly high for their age, and they constantly caused chaos around the estate, fighting like wild animals and then cleverly blaming each other. Iyashi, however, was incredibly mature and calm, often getting deeply annoyed by the two reckless boys.
Watching the children play, the usually cold-hearted Kazumi would completely melt.
But whenever Kazumi looked at little Iyashi, his heart ached violently. He missed his younger brother, Jun. It had been six years since Jun vanished like a ghost. The earth had swallowed him, and the sky had erased him.
Kazumi would often reminisce about the old, bloody clan wars between the Shizukami and the Kaimetsuza. During those massive battles, Kazumi and Jun never actually fought. Because their power levels were perfectly matched, they would simply stand opposite each other on the battlefield, chatting or doing light warm-ups while pretending to be locked in a deadly stalemate. Everyone knew neither would win.
The real war... the terrifying, earth-shattering war... was always between Ema and Hayato.
Their clashes were so apocalyptic that the elders and warriors of both clans would just stand back and watch in absolute awe. No one dared to intervene.
But for Ema and Hayato, this wasn't a war. It was their romance.
BOOM! CRASH! The shockwaves of their battles would tear the earth apart. Hayato, deeply in love with Ema, never used his full, devastating power. He would just effortlessly dodge, looking deeply into her eyes with a warm smile. Ema, however, was ruthless. She struck with killing intent, leaving deep scars across Hayato's body. To her, those scars were a man's ultimate pride. The more she hurt him, the deeper her love for him grew. The battlefield was the only place they could express their forbidden affection.
But their final battle had been a tragedy.
Under immense pressure from her family to secure a victory, Ema was forced to go all out. Hayato, sick and tired of the endless bloodshed over small pieces of land, made a fatal decision. He didn't block.
KRA-KOOM! Ema struck him with her absolute maximum power. Hayato was blasted miles away, disappearing into the dark forest.
He didn't return. The Kaimetsuza clan celebrated their victory, but Ema, covered in blood, spent the entire night frantically searching the woods like a madwoman. She couldn't find him. That was the exact night the Legendary Master had found a dying Hayato and saved his life.
Hayato remained missing for two agonizing years. During that time, the wars stopped. Ema locked herself away, weeping uncontrollably, experiencing the exact same soul-crushing grief that Aira was experiencing right now for Takashi.
When Hayato finally returned two years later, the Shizukami clan instantly surrendered, peace was declared, and the two were married.
Because Kazumi had seen his sister endure that hell, he never placed strict restrictions on his daughter, Aira. He let her cope in her own way. Aira had taught four-year-old Arashi to call her 'Bhabhi' (Sister-in-law). Hearing that word brought Aira immense comfort. Sometimes, Kenshi and Iyashi would also call her Bhabhi, but Aira would quickly correct Kenshi. "I am just your sister," she would say gently. "I am only Arashi and Iyashi's Bhabhi."
Kazumi, however, was no longer a soft ruler. He knew the West Land was constantly plotting to devour them. Where Hayato had been merciful, Kazumi was ruthless. He ruled with an iron fist, determined to protect his family and the East Land at all costs.
Aira's next step toward absolute power had begun. She had officially joined the prestigious Dominion University.
This wasn't just a school. The ultimate goal of Dominion University was to forge the future leaders of the Shiritsu Supreme Council the absolute authority that maintained global peace and balanced the world's power dynamics.
At the university, students were forced to form permanent Squads to complete real, life-threatening missions. The rule was strict: One Senior leading Three Juniors for four to five years. After five years, a junior could graduate to become a Senior and lead their own squad.
But fate played a cruel joke on Aira.
She was placed in a squad with the twin children of the West Land's Supreme Leader, Kazuki Mizushi: Yuna Mizushi and Yuma Mizushi.
Aira despised them. Their father had murdered Hayato and stolen the West Land. Because of this boiling hatred, their squad missions were a disaster. They constantly fought and sabotaged each other, driving their Senior leader to the brink of insanity.
Meanwhile, in the West Land, the shadows were expanding.
Kazuki Mizushi was completely consumed by his thirst for supremacy. He viewed the East Land as his ultimate threat. He knew the Shizukami and Kaimetsuza bloodlines were merging, and it kept him awake at night.
To secure his absolute dominance, Kazuki relentlessly pressured the dark, secretive Shinsei Organization to fulfill their end of the bargain.
The Shinsei Organization operated heavily in the West Land. On the surface, they opened welfare institutions and charities. But behind closed doors, they conducted horrific, unspeakable experiments. Kazuki didn't care what they did, as long as he got his power.
And finally, the Shinsei Organization delivered.
They had acquired the Core of the Legendary Divine Spirit Sea Serpent. The spirit's conscious soul was dead, but its raw, apocalyptic power was extracted inside the Core.
The Organization split the massive Core into two halves and initiated the terrifying process of sealing it into Kazuki's ten-year-old twins.
Because the Mizushi clan possessed a profound natural mastery over the Water Property, Yuna Mizushi's body instantly adapted to the Sea Serpent's energy without resistance. But her twin brother, Yuma, suffered unimaginable, bone-breaking agony during the sealing.
The awakening of this legendary power was kept an absolute secret from the other lands.
Kazuki Mizushi laughed in triumph. He believed he had finally obtained the ultimate power to crush the East Land and rule the world.
But Kazuki was a fool.
He had no idea that the Shinsei Organization was playing him from the very beginning. The organization desperately needed perfectly conditioned 'Vessels' from an elite clan to host the Sea Serpent's volatile power. Kazuki, blinded by his own greed, had willingly handed his own children over to be used as their lab rats.
For now, the power belonged to the Mizushi Clan. But Kazuki's endless greed was slowly pulling his family and the entire world into a darkness from which there would be no return.